Rhino Mud Bath
The white rhinoceros or square-lipped is the largest species of rhinoceros that exists. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros is generally considered the largest land mammal after the elephants; however, no measured weights exist to confirm this. On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind the other. The white rhinoceros also has a noticeable hump on the back of its neck. Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes. The colour of the body ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. White rhinos have a distinctive broad, straight mouth which is used for grazing. Its ears can move independently to pick up sounds but it depends most of all on smell. The olfactory passages which are responsible for smell are larger than their entire brain. The white rhinoceros has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal. Historically the major factor in the decline of white rhinos was uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era, but now poaching for their horn is the primary threat. The white rhino is particularly vulnerable to hunting, because it is a large and relatively unaggressive animal and generally occurs in herds. In 2013, poaching rates for white rhinos nearly doubled from the previous year. As a result, the white rhino has now received Near Threatened status as its total population tops out at 20,000 members. Hunting of the animal has gone virtually unchecked in most of Africa, and the non-violent nature of the rhinoceros makes it susceptible to poaching. Mozambique, one of the four main countries the white rhino occupies, is used by poachers as a passageway to South Africa, which holds a fairly large number of white rhinos. Here, rhinos are regularly killed and their horns are smuggled out of the country.
Size: 4987px × 2878px
Location: South Africa
Photo credit: © John Porter LRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, african, animal, bath, big, ceratotherium, cooling, horn, horns, hunted, large, mammal, mouth, mud, pachyderm, poaching, refreshing, rhino, rhinoceros, safari, simum, south, southern, square-lipped, threatened, vulnerable, white, wide, wide-mouthed, wild, wildlife
